Coming Back Home
by embracing-shadows
Summary: Its been four months since Greg's been gone, and Nick is waiting for the day he comes home. Not angsty!


I own nothing but the plot!  
Song used is "Home" by Blake Shelton.  
I've had this idea kicking around my head for _months_, and I've just now gotten the urge to write it. Sheesh.

* * *

Some days seemed longer than others, everyone knew that, but Nick was sure he'd never gone through a longer day in his entire life. With Greg gone on a tour with his freshly published book the rest of them were harried trying to pick up the slack. They'd never realized just how much of his own weight Greg had pulled around here! His boundless energy made him the perfect candidate for the most exhausting tasks and he never seemed to complain. Without him here it was as if the workload was doubled for the rest of them. Although, that was a great deal due to the fact that they were all a bunch of whiners who were sick and tired of being so sick and tired.

As he trod through the familiar halls of the lab Nick allowed his eyelids to drift halfway closed. He needed bed and food, and he wasn't sure which order he would prefer those in if asked. Not that anyone was going to ask, seeing as they all needed the same things just as much as he did. It had been four months since Greg had left for his tour; four whole months and not a word had been heard from him. Not one letter, not one phone call, not one email, not to _any_ of them! Some of them were beginning to wonder if he hadn't gone down on a plane somewhere. It was common knowledge that Greg wasn't fond of flying and that he had dreaded the large number of flights he would be making during his time away.

When he realized that he was dwelling on Greg for what must have been the thousandth time just that day, Nick shook his head to clear those thoughts from his mind. He and Warrick had just wrapped up yet another case, a particularly convoluted and involved case that had chased them all around town for the last week and a half. He allowed a small bit of pride to straighten his back as he recalled how it had been _him_ that had finally put four and eight together to make an unexpected thirty-two. The answer had been sitting in front of them the whole time, they'd had all the correct clues, they had only been interpreting them wrong. And it had been him, Nick, that had finally figured it all out.

Another bad guy behind bars, and the world had him to thank. Yippee.

Despite the small smile that crept up on to his face, Nick still passed a weary had over his eyes, deciding that maybe he would prefer his bed before he food. He wouldn't mind going hungry for a little while if he could get some rest. After all, if he were sleeping, he wouldn't even notice. Satisfied that he had made the decision on what to do when he eventually, finally, got home, Nick headed for the break room. If he was even going to make it to home he was going to need a cup of coffee to stay awake that long. He'd just left Warrick at the front desk and promised to meet him here to chew over the details one last time. They would have come together but the mail had come in just as the two of them were passing the desk, and Warrick was expecting his new identification card to come in any day now. Just like they were supposed to be expecting their last team member home any day now.

Just as he made to sigh as his thoughts drifted once more to Greg, Nick turned at the sound of his name being called. Warrick was chasing down the hall after him, some kind of package held high in his hand and a large grin on his face. Nick offered him an encouraging smile.

"So it came, then?" he assumed. Warrick shook his head, but the excitement did not fade from his face. Nick gave him a quizzical look. "What, then?" he asked.

"Greg's sent us something! Finally!" he exclaimed. "Come on, we've got to open it with everyone together." Without waiting for a reply he brushed past and dodged in to the break room that Nick had been just about to enter. A little startled, Nick was definitely more awake now. The smile that had been creeping up on him returned until it dominated his face. If he'd been looking in a mirror he might have seen the gleam of life that had been missing for weeks returning to his eyes.

Fortunately the other three were already lounging around the table in the middle of the room, cups of coffee in their hands, calmly discussing inconsequential things that had been in the paper that day. Warrick waved his white envelope around in the air and announced whom it was from. Nick watched the same excitement that he felt appear on all of their faces. Of course, it was muted to mere curiosity on Grissom's features, but that was only to be expected from him. Catherine and Sara both teetered on the edges of the chairs as they craned their necks to try and get a better look at the letter. Warrick tore open the flap and looked inside. There was a pause as confusion flitted across his face, then they watched him turn it upside down over the table and shake it.

A small plain case fell out with a disc inside. The case was clear, and they could make out Greg's messy scrawl on the front, reading 'miss you guys' as well as the reflective marking that marked the disc as a homemade DVD. Curiosity burned hot inside them as they all immediately began wondering out loud what could possibly be on this disc. As the possibilities flew back and forth across the table Warrick picked up the case and removed its contents, crossing the room to the television and the DVD/VCR below it. He popped the disc in and, across the room, Nick planted his feet in to a comfortable position to watch whatever it was Greg had _finally_ sent to them.

They were all understandably surprised when the television started playing music and the screen showed what was obviously a hand held digital camera panning over a beautiful view of a foreign city. They all jumped when Greg's laughing voice greeted them from somewhere off-screen, probably holding the camera. "Welcome to Paris!" he exclaimed, but that was all he said. The next moment, as the music gave way to words, they found themselves watching a slideshow of pictures from Greg's tour, most of them with Greg in there somewhere, smiling and waving at them like he was happier than ever.

_Another summer day  
Has come and gone away  
In Paris and Rome  
But I wanna go home  
Mmmmmmmm_

The words of the song he had chosen betrayed the smile that showed up in most of the pictures. Sometimes they were obviously shots taken by him holding the camera at arms length. Usually there were new friends and acquaintances beside him in those shots. Sometimes there were shots taking by his publisher of him signing books or talking with important people or even just poetic shots of him enjoying scenery.

_May be surrounded by  
A million people I  
Still feel all alone  
I wanna go home  
Oh, I miss you, you know_

_And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you  
Each one a line or two  
"I'm fine baby, how are you?"  
I would send them but I know that it's just not enough  
My words were cold and flat  
And you deserve more than that_

Another video clip showed up here, and it was obvious that they were in a bar somewhere. The sound had been muted so nothing interfered with the music, but it seemed that Greg had had a little too much and was enthusiastically taking part in some kind of local dance in somewhere that looked like Italy. He was making a fool out of himself but he didn't seem to care. It was so typically him that Nick felt his heart clench inside of his chest. Especially when Greg finally spotted whoever was filming him and began laughing, rushing over with stumbling steps to speak in to the camera. Nick wished he knew what he was saying.

_Another airplane  
Another sunny place  
I'm lucky I know  
But I wanna go home  
I've got to go home_

_Let me go home  
I'm just too far from where you are  
I wanna come home_

The pictures just kept coming, some in airports, one of Greg and his publisher sleeping in airport chairs with their heads resting against each other. Some were of sight seeing, like Greg in the Eiffel tower. And some were random, like restaurants and walking down the street, or in hotel rooms. Some didn't have anyone in them, but were just pictures documenting beautiful sunsets and breathtaking views of oceans and lakes and forests. Some were plane overviews and some were balcony lookouts. They were all lovely though.

_And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life  
It's like I just stepped outside  
When everything was going right  
And I know just why you could not  
Come along with me  
This was not your dream  
But you always believed in me_

Somehow, Nick wasn't sure how Greg had gotten a hold of that particular image – though it could have been from his cell phone – there suddenly appeared a picture of the team all together, Greg and Nick in the center with their arms thrown across each others shoulders. It was obviously a celebration of some kind, but Nick was too muddled to even try and recall what for. The lyrics were hitting him hard and his was biting the inside of his cheeks to keep his emotions at bay.

_Another winter day has come  
And gone away  
In even Paris and Rome  
And I wanna go home  
Let me go home_

_And I'm surrounded by  
A million people I  
Still feel alone_

_And I wanna go home  
Oh, I miss you, you know_

Suddenly the whole room jumped and flew about in their seats as a familiar voice exploded out behind them, soaring upwards in time with the song. There, in the doorway, was Greg. Travel weary and tired looking, wearing a brown jacket that they had seen in many of the pictures, he was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed and his eyes laughing as he sang along with his own montage song.

_Let me go home  
I've had my run  
Baby, I'm done  
I'm coming back home  
Let me go home  
It'll all be all right  
I'll be home tonight  
I'm coming back home_

The room was still for all of three breaths, and then the laughing grin on Greg's face was replaced by a kind of nervous excitement. His eyes fixed on those of Nick, who by some miracle was standing closest to the door. He reached in to his jacket pocket and pulled out a thick packet of letters, all half address to the same person.

"I did write, I did write you letters. Hell Nick I wrote you lots of letters. They just," he looked down at the envelopes, "they just never seemed to say what I wanted them to say." He looked almost too eager to the others in the room. Nick waited breathlessly for him to continue, but when he didn't the Texan swallowed hard.

"What did you want them to say?" he asked in a quiet voice full of coiled emotions. The packet dropped out of Greg's hands as he took two long strides to collide with Nick.

"Fuck I missed you, baby," he declared, much to the shock of the others. They were even more shocked when he followed through with the collision by sweeping his arms up around Nick's neck and crushing their lips together with a hot passion born of four months cold separation. Nick responded in kind, catching the younger man about the waist and pulling him in closer. He was only dimly aware of the small groan that escaped his throat, so blinded was he by the sheer physical relief of being connected once more with the man he loved.

When they pulled apart they both let fly small choking laughs of relief, allowing their pent up and hidden emotions to escape.

"Bed's been cold without you," Nick muttered shyly. Greg's grin reappeared.

"I'd rather be waiting at home alone," he countered, "than sleeping in empty hotel rooms wishing I knew what to say to call home. So many times I dialed just to hang up before it rang. Fuck I missed you!" He kissed his lover again and they were both smiling all through it. He laughed all of a sudden, loudly and raucously, and Nick asked what he was laughing about. "That video was supposed to get here a couple days ago, to sort of let you know I was on my way. I couldn't believe my timing when I walked in and saw you guys opening it." He grinned, but Nick blinked.

Slowly, a deep red blush creeping over his cheeks at an alarming rate, Nick turned his head to look behind him. He'd forgotten, in the rush of seeing Greg back home at last, that they were not alone in the room. As soon as their eyes had met the whole world had fallen away, including his four colleagues, who were now staring at the pair of them as if they had somehow grown three new heads each. Sheepishly, he looked back at Greg again.

"Oops," he said. Greg smiled warmly and pulled him in closer.

"Maybe we should have at least told them we were dating before giving them a full on public display of affection," he mused in a joking kind of voice. Nick's eyes suddenly filled with that special warmth that Greg had missed the most during his travels.

"Maybe…maybe we should have told them that we're married."


End file.
